The British-Irish Council (BIC), established under the Agreement reached in Belfast on Good Friday 1998, held its sixth Summit meeting today in Guernsey.
Ireland was represented by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Dermot Ahern, and the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue.
The British Government was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Mr John Prescott . Members of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive were also in attendance as well as representatives from the Isle of Man and Jersey.
The meeting focused mainly on tourism and highlighted the common challenges faced by BIC members and the benefits to all of sharing experiences and best practice.
It was agreed that members continue assessing the benefits of using Tourism Satellite Accounting, an internationally recognised technique for measuring the impact of tourism, and to make the training and recruitment of leisure staff a priority.
The meeting was also given an update on the work of the council with regard to the problem of drug use. Interventions with young people through formal and informal education projects, children of drug misusing parents and confidential enquiries into drug related deaths were identified as important topics of mutual concern which would form the basis of the work programme in the coming year.
A BIC Ministerial meeting to review progress is to take place next year.
The Taoiseach praised the work of the council and expressed his hope that the other institutions of the Agreement would be restored shortly.
"The Irish and British Governments are currently continuing our work with the Northern Ireland parties to achieve a successful outcome as soon as possible."